The Rolling Stones today announced two special London shows to mark their 50th anniversary — as Sir Mick Jagger confessed that when the band started out he thought they wouldn’t last more than two years.

In an exclusive interview with the Standard, the singer ended months of speculation by revealing the milestone will be marked with two gigs at the O2 arena on November 25 and 29.

They will be the Stones’ first shows together in five years, and two more dates are scheduled in New York in December.

The band’s first live performance was in July 1962 at the Marquee Club, a basement nightspot in Oxford Street. Sir Mick said: “London is super appropriate. It’s a full circle because we started out in London and that’s our home town.”

He admitted reaching 50 years was “crazy”, adding: “You think it’s going to last a couple of years. At the time [in the Sixties] that seemed like a perfectly rational thing to say — why would you think it would go on for any longer? That was about the shelf life of a pop group at that time. Obviously at the beginning you didn’t have any inclination, it’s a nightmare idea really that you’d do anything for 50 years at that age.

“I think the Rolling Stones are kind of quite irreverent about it in a way. I don’t think we take it very seriously and we joke about it really.

“It doesn’t exactly feel like your golden wedding. I think it kind of feels like a bit of a f*** off moment to be honest, and I don’t think we’ve laughed at it enough. I think one of the reasons is that we don’t really believe that amount of time has gone by so quickly, and here we are, still here.”

He has been rehearsing a pool of 60 songs with Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts in Paris. They have “been in touch” with former bass player Bill Wyman and hope that he can join them on stage as a guest performer for the O2 dates. The shows will feature a custom-built set, with a stage based on their lips and tongue logo.

It is “very touching” that the band still creates such a buzz, said Sir Mick.

“It’s great people are still interested. It’s very touching that people want to know about us, because normally you’d expect you’d have to create a big sort of noise about this to get anyone interested in a band that’s been around for 50 years and that has essentially become part of the furniture.”

He added: “We’re looking forward to it but there’s a lot of prep to do. We’re hunkering down and trying to make sure everything’s greased and ready for action, and as good as it could be.”

The band have marked their anniversary by releasing a new greatest hits collection called GRRR! with two new songs, Doom and Gloom and One More Shot.

Tickets for the forthcoming shows will go on sale on Friday at rollingstones.com